Accessing the public test realm
Here is a full and complete step-by-step set of instructions for copying characters, downloading/installing the Public Test Realm, running the PTR, and patching and reinstalling the PTR. This guide is written for a beginner-level audience, but expects basic knowledge of using Explorer and getting around the filesystem. The most common errors posted on the PTR forum are caused by people not following the bolded instructions. Make sure to follow them! Copying Characters In order to do useful testing on the Public Test Realm, QA has given us the ability to copy our own characters or to potentially use premade max-level and well-equipped characters to test on the PTR so we don't have to begin a level 1 character and level it instead of testing. To use premades, your account must have been Burning Crusade-enabled before the PTR opened! Copying characters is a one-way operation: You will be copying your character from the real server you play on to the PTR, as it was when you last logged out. What you do on the PTR has no effect on your real character on the live realms. Your PTR character and all of its experience, items, and gold will not be getting transferred back to the live realms, either. To actually copy a character, go to the character copy page and follow the instructions. Make sure you are not playing WoW when attempting to copy your character. Make sure you choose a realm that fits your play style, as there are both PvP and PvE test realms. "Premade" character copies may or may not be available, so take a quick look at the stickies on the Test Realm Forums. There tend to be issues with copying characters due to the immense demand that is placed on the servers handling the copies. If you are seeing errors, please cancel out and try again later. QA is usually aware of problems with the copy servers instantly, so please do not flood the forum with character-copy threads. Downloading and Installing the PTR Now that your character is hopefully in the process of getting copied over to the test server that you selected, it's time to download the PTR. The PTR is a special version of WoW that stands on its own from your regular copy of WoW. Go to the download page and select "PC" or "Mac" in order to download the client. Click "PC" if you're running Windows. MAKE SURE YOU TELL YOUR WEB BROWSER TO SAVE THE FILE INSTEAD OF RUNNING IT! This is extremely important. The Downloader/Patcher programs only run properly if they are run in the same folder as the Launcher and your copy of WoW. Remember where your browser is saving the file (common locations will be either on your Desktop or in your Documents folder) as you'll need to move it in a minute. While it's downloading (if it's not already done), fire up Explorer by either clicking on the "My Computer" icon on your desktop, accessing it from the Start Menu, or opening the Start Menu, clicking on "Run...", typing "explorer" (without the quotes) and pressing Enter. The default location that WoW installs itself to is C:\Program Files\World of Warcraft on Windows, and /Applications/World of Warcraft on OS X, but that may not be the case for you. To find out: right-click on the shortcut you use to start WoW, select Properties, and look at the "Target" field in the window that pops up. Get to that folder. Now that you're in that folder, you should notice "WoW", "Launcher", "Repair" and several other programs and folders. If you see a folder called "WoWTest", rename, delete, or otherwise remove it now. Trying to reinstall the PTR over old data will break things. Once the file has finished downloading in your web browser, move it in to the folder you're in now, extract the program from the .dmg on OS X, and run it. The PTR should now be downloading using the standard Blizzard Downloader. If you're having issues with the Blizzard downloader, see the support article. Once it's done downloading, click "Finish" to exit the downloader, then get back to the World of Warcraft and run the patch that was just downloaded. Run it with administrator privileges. This will start installing the PTR. When done installing, the PTR will start automatically. There are frequently many small patches for the PTR required after the initial install. See the Patching the PTR section for details. Running the PTR To get back to the PTR, there are a few options: * Start the Launcher and click "Public Test" instead of "Play". * Get to the WoWTest folder and run that copy of WoW. It has a green "T" icon. Please note that you must use the password you had when the PTR activated. Your account as a whole must also have been active for at least seven weeks before the PTR was activated, if not since the date specified on the Character Copy page. If you would like to use the Launcher to access the PTR, but it doesn't show by default, click the "Show Launcher" checkbox in the lower-left corner of the login screen, log in and then exit out of WoW. The Launcher should then show. If you're getting stuck at "Connecting" or "Handshaking" while attempting to log in, follow the upcoming instructions, remembering to try to log in after completing each step: #Reboot your computer #Follow the instructions at http://us.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?articleId=21014 #Check your firewall and/or router #Rename the realmlist.wtf file in your WoWTest folder to something else (like realmlist.wtf.old) #Rename the WTF folder in your WoWTest folder to something else (like WTF.old) #Follow the instructions in the Reinstalling the PTR section. If you're frequently getting disconnected, follow the instructions at [ http://us.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?articleId=19824] and http://us.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?articleId=21017 Patching the PTR There are often a multitude of small patches required in order to get the PTR up to date. For most users, simply running the PTR (and/or the Launcher) will download and install the patches without any issues. If you're having trouble getting all of the patches because the PTR is trying to download the same patch over and over, try this: * Exit out of the PTR and any updaters/downloaders you have running * Get to your WoWTest folder You should see some files ending with "-patch". Run the highest -patch program you have. Make sure you run it as an administrator if you're on Vista. If you don't get an error when you run that patch, try logging in. If you're still getting directed to download the same patch again, or are having errors patching, try reinstalling the PTR. Reinstalling the PTR Quick instructions for a clean reinstall: * Get to your WoWTest folder * Delete your WoWTest folder * Run the repair tool on your regular copy of WoW * Go back to the Download Client page, download the -downloader progam, move it to your World of Warcraft folder, run it, then run -patch file Make sure you always run patches with administrator privileges. That's it, good luck, and don't forget to report all of the bugs you find with the /bug tool in-game! Unsupported platforms Wine has a page here, Linux/Wine. There's also an AppDB entry for the 2.2.2 PTR. No doubt Cedega and Crossover Office have their own support channels. Blizz do not support WoW on any of these platforms - however they've been known to be co-operative with those prepared to do the legwork to ascertain causes of bugs that are from upstream. Please, if you're going to use an unsupported platform to play WoW, caveat emptor and be prepared to do a lot of your own legwork if things don't go well. Just don't complain to Hortus in the Test Realm Forum, or to the Tech Support Forum, if/when things go wrong. Use your normal support channels for that. Category:Guides